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Atsugi Growler completes noise test in Iwakuni

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From Stripes.com

A Navy EA-18G Growler from Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, conducts a noise test near Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. The flight was observed by the Iwakuni City mayor and members of the press and public. (Nathan Wicks/U.S. Marine Corps)

Atsugi Growler completes noise test in Iwakuni

by: James Kimber and Hana Kusumoto | .

Stars and Stripes | .

published: August 13, 2016

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare plane tested its noise levels Thursday at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni before a carrier air wing moves there next year.

The Growler, from Electronic Attack Squadron 141 out of Naval Air Facility Atsugi near Tokyo, flew over the base and the surrounding city of Iwakuni, 25 miles south of Hiroshima.

The plane, a modified F/A-18F Super Hornet with electronic warfare capability to jam and suppress enemy aircraft signals, is one of the new types of aircraft that will arrive with the wing.

Officials recorded noise levels as high as 97 decibels about a half-mile from the base and 105.5 decibels on base, according to data provided by the Japanese government. A subway train produces roughly 100 decibels.

Iwakuni’s mayor, Yoshihiko Fukuda, had asked for the flight and was among those present during noise tests. The levels were “not much different from the noise from the conventional Hornets already assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni,” he said in a statement.